A Change of Heart
by bogart
Summary: This is James's last chance to win Lily's heart. James is ready to anything to get her. Can he do it? Or will he need a little help from his friends? Set in Marauder's 7th year. JamesLily, of course. Not as bad as summary makes it seem. WIP
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my attempt at a Lily/James story. It isn't half bad, so I'm told. Hope you guys like it.

Chapter 1:

_Maybe this year will be different,_ thought 17 year old Lily Evans to herself as she walked onto Platform 9and three quarters. _Maybe this year he will leave me alone._

"Hey Evans!" a boy's voice yelled somewhere behind her. Upon hearing the voice Lily's heart sank. 

"Wishful thinking." she muttered as she turned to face the boy she hated. "What Potter?" Lily asked, clearly annoyed with the boy.

"I've got something to tell you." replied the boy she had called Potter. He was tall, with thick messy jet black hair and dark hazel eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. He was also very good looking and very fit from the many hours he had played Quidditch.

"I'm not going to go out with you!" Lily yelled slightly exasperated.

"No, that's not it." James Potter replied, sounding mildly mad at her. "I just wanted to tell you," he said his voice returning to normal "that I quit, you win."

"What do you mean?" asked Lily, very confused.

James sighed. "What I mean," he said very quietly "is that I'm going to leave you alone. No more teasing, no more asking you out. I know when there is no longer a point in me asking, and after four years I've finally figured it out." During his little speech, James's voice had steadily grown softer and sadder.

James turned to leave, but Lily stopped him. "I have one thing to ask you." she told him. James nodded and gave her his full attention.

"What caused this change?"

James didn't answer her, but looked down at his sneakers and shrugged. Then he turned and walked away, his head held low and looking depressed.

Shaking her head, Lily grabbed her truck and stowed it in one of the compartments on the Hogwarts Express.

Lily then went to find her mother to say good-bye. Lily lived with her parents and sister, Petunia. This year was going to be her seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and her mother had come to see her off. Her father had wanted to come, but couldn't get off of work. Lily had been a little upset, but had understood. Lily had been very happy to find out that Petunia had refused to come to the station. Petunia despised magic and spent every chance she got calling Lily a freak. Lily had been lucky this summer because her sister had been extremely distracted with arrangement for her marriage to Vernon Dursley, a large beefy man that looked more like a pig than a man.

"Who was that nice young man you were taking to?" asked Mrs. Evan. Lily and Mrs. Evans looked exactly alike. They both had red hair, bright green eyes, and a fiery temper.

Lily snorted. "Nice boy? Yeah, right. That was just James Potter." Lily threw a disgusted look over at James, who was standing a few yards away talking to his mother and one of his best friends, Sirius Black.

"Just James Potter, huh?" Mrs. Evans asked, following her daughter's gaze.

Lily ignored her mother's last comment and said "I have to get going, mum. I still have to go put on my robes and meet the Head Boy." Lily had been made Head Girl.

Mrs. Evans smiled at Lily and thought about how it seemed like just yesterday that she was getting on the train for the first time. "All right," was all she said. "Be careful and do try to have some fun. We'll see you during Christmas break."

"Don't worry mum." Lily said smiling. "I'll be good and careful. And I always have fun. I'll write lots of letters, too. Say bye to dad for me."

With that, Mrs. Evans gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek and let her get on the train excited about her last year of school.

At that same moment, James Potter was having a conversation with his mother and one of his best friends, Sirius Black. Mrs. Potter was a good five inches shorter than her tall son and had light brown hair and blue eyes. She looked quite young for her age and almost always had an unworried expression on her face.  
Sirius Black was a tall, handsome boy (even taller than James) with long dark black hair. He also had mysterious looking grey eyes. Sirius was the school heartthrob, next to James, of course. Unlike James, though, Sirius had an aura of coolness that nobody could copy.

"Now boys," Mrs. Potter was saying "I don't want to be getting over a hundred letters about detentions from Professor McGonagall this year. Try to keep it under fifty."

Sirius smiled and saluted her. "Yes ma'm."

James grinned and nodded. She told him every year to keep the amount of detentions he got to a minimum, but never got mad if he didn't.

"James, your father really wishes he could be here to see you off, but with work…." Mrs. Potter's voice trailed off.

James's parents were both famous Aurors and had to work often, but lately it had been worse than usual because of a new dark wizard calling himself Lord Voldemort was running around killing people. James's mother had just barely gotten off of work to see him and Sirius off to their last year at Hogwarts.

"It's o.k. mum." James said. "Just tell him I said bye." Really, it did bother James that he hadn't gotten to see his dad, but didn't want to make a fuss over it.

"You boys better get going soon." Mrs. Potter said, glancing at her wristwatch. "Sirius, dear, you'll be coming for Christmas break, right?"

"I wouldn't want to impose." Sirius mumbled looking at the ground.

"Impose?" Mrs. .Potter laughed. "You're like a second son to us."

Sirius beamed at her. "Fine, I'll come if it isn't going to be too much trouble."

"You boys really have to go now." Mrs. Potter said, pulling each boy into a hug.

"Yeah, come on James" said Sirius, punching James in the arm. "You have to go give Remus and Peter a heart attack."

With that, the two seventeen year olds ran off to get on the train. Mrs. Potter was left there thinking about how fast kids grow up.

A/N: Review please. Tell me you love it, hate it, whatever. It won't bother me.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Here's chapter 2. Hope y

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"Where is that Head Boy?" Lily Evans wondered aloud. He was already five minutes late, whoever he was.

Lily really hoped that the Head Boy would be Remus Lupin. Remus was a tall, smart, quiet boy with sandy brown hair. He was also in her year and in Gryffindor with her. Remus wasn't exactly handsome because he always looked extremely exhausted, but he was very nice and friendly all the same. He had an extremely even temper and had been a Prefect since fifth year. More importantly, though, he would take the job of Head Boy seriously. Really, when Lily thought about it, the only problem with Remus was that he was a Marauder.

The Marauder's were a group led by James Potter and Sirius Black. It was comprised of Potter, Black, Lupin, and a chubby, mousey looking boy named Peter Pettigrew. They liked to hex people and pull a large number of pranks, and had been doing so since first year. The Marauders, though, were still the most popular kids at school. As much as Lily wanted to hate the Marauders, she couldn't help buy admire how close the four boys were. They never ratted each other out and one marauder was almost never seen without one of the others.

Just then the compartment door slide open and Lily's train of thought was broken. She looked up to see how had entered and was surprised that it was James Potter. Lily sighed. The school year hadn't even started and she had already seen James twice.

"Potter," Lily began, trying to be civil but couldn't keep the annoyance out of her voice. "This compartment is for Head Girl and Boy. You're not supposed to be in here. I'm sure you will find Sirius and Peter in your usual compartment near the back of the train. Now leave. Please." Lily was rather proud of herself for not yelling at him.

"I can't." James stated.

Lily couldn't help but yell at him this time. "WHY THE HELL NOT? I thought you said you would leave me alone."

"I'm Head Boy." James simply said.

Lily looked and saw the Head Boy badge pinned right next to James's Quidditch captain badge. "Y-you" Lily stuttered. "B-but I thought for sure it would be-"

"Remus?" James finished for her.

Lily nodded. "Me too" he laughed. "It was a downright shock to me and my parents when I got my letter. At first I thought Sirius was playing a major prank on me."

Lily suppressed a grin. She could picture Sirius doing something like that to James.  
At that moment the compartment door opened again and the prefects filed in, ending James and Lily's conversation.

Lily was extremely surprised at James's behavior during the meeting. She had thought for she would have to run the whole meeting herself, considering James had never been to one before. She was quickly proved wrong. Though she did do most of the talking, James paid a fair amount of attention, even adding things in things she forgot to mention. The meeting passed quickly and soon Lily called the meeting to a close and dismissed the Prefects. She had turned to leave herself when she heard James say, "Lily?"

"What Potter?" James cringed at the use of his surname.

"I-I, er, never mind." James stuttered, each word being said softer than the last until Lily could barely hear him.

"Alright then." Lily said before turning and walking out of the compartment.

James slowly walked out of the compartment, unconsciously heading towards the compartment where he knew his friends would be. Why did I chicken out, he thought to himself. Why didn't you just say it? You're James Potter. You're a brave Gryffindor. _You're- building up your ego, which you deflated over the summer _said the little voice inside his head. _You may be James Potter, but she is Lily Evans, the girl of your dreams. The girl you'll never get to like you if you keep thinking this way._ Shaking his head, James entered the compartment where his three best friends, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, were sitting. He nodded a word of hello to them before sitting down. None of them were talking yet, each absorbed in his own thoughts. They weren't talking about summer vacation because each already knew about the others vacation. Sirius had come to live with James, and Remus and Peter had come over to James's house at least once a week.  
Finally James couldn't take it anymore. The silence was too much.

"So," he said. "Moony, how come you didn't wait for me after the meeting?"

"Well Prongs," Remus said. "First, I would like to congratulate you on doing very well and not making a fool of yourself during your first official act as Head Boy. And secondly, I thought you would like a moment alone with the love of your life."

James nodded, turning back to his window. His three friends shared a look of confusion by James's quietness, but left him alone. James truly appreciated that they were leaving him alone. That was one of the reasons they were such great friends, they had truly understood each other, even from day one.

They had been good friends since their first day at Hogwarts. James smiled to himself. He could remember that day as though it was yesterday.

_"HOW DARE YOU DIRTY THE NOBLE BLACK FAMILY NAME!" Mrs. Black's voice filled the Great Hall. "HOW DARE YOU BE PUT IN GRYFFINDOR? THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BLACK PUT IN THAT HORRIBLE HOUSE. YOUR BROTHER IS IN TEARS AND YOUR FATHER IS FURIOUS. YOU ARE AN EMBARRASSMENT TO THE FAMILY."_

_Many of the Gryffindor were seriously offended by the words of Mrs. Black, but nobody else was paying attention to them. The whole school was staring over at the Slytherian table. They had found the whole thing very humorous, especially Sirius's cousins, and they were rolling on the floor, laughing. No one except James, Remus, and Peter had noticed Sirius get up and leave the hall. The three other boys soon followed. They had spent most of last night getting to know each other, for they were going to have to spend the next seven years together as Remus had pointed out, and they were starting to really like each other. They had not found one thing funny about what Mrs. Black had said and were wondering were Sirius had went to._

_They soon found him in an unused classroom on the first floor. When they entered, they saw him sitting in a corner, staring out a window. Even though he had tried not to show it, he seemed almost in tears._

_"That was mean of your mother to do that to you." Remus said, breaking the silence._

_"I knew that they wouldn't be happy, but I didn't think that they would do that to me. I mean, I am the first Black to be sorted into Gryffindor." Sirius said, struggling to find the words. "My little brother, Regulus, looked up to me and I failed him. I disgraced my family. They don't want me anymore. You saw my cousins out there."_

_"That's alright." James told him. "We may not be able to help you with the rest of your family, but we can help you with your cousins at least."_

_"What do you mean?" asked Sirius, slightly confused by what James was getting at._

_"Well, have you ever played a prank on anyone?" asked James, with a mischievous glint in his eyes._

_Sirius grinned, finally understanding, and nodded._

_"Alright then, listen up…."_

James got a big smile on his face when he remembered how mad Sirius's cousins had been over their little prank.

Sirius, not able to take James's silence any longer, broke down and asked, "O.k. James, What happened between you and Evans? I mean, you are being really quiet."

Remus shot Sirius a look, but seemed curious all the same about what James's answer would be.

"Nothing happened, Padfoot," James snapped. "I was trying to be nice and I couldn't even get the words out." Then, he turned back to his window without another word.

His friends were a little shocked at his behavior, but decided it was best to drop the subject for now.

"So Moony," Sirius asked slyly. "Are you ready to get you arse kicked at wizard's chess?"

"You're on, Padfoot." Remus said with his most determined smile.

Remus and Sirius played four loud and exciting matches of chess, with Peter cheering them on the whole time and James not paying the slightest bit of attention. They were tied a two apiece and were setting up for the final match when Peter started to complain.

I'm hungry." Peter moaned.

"Shut up Peter." Sirius growled, impatient to win the tournament.

Remus sighed. He knew Peter would not stop until he got some food.

"Padfoot" Remus gave Sirius a look.

Sirius sighed, knowing that Remus was right, as usual. They had a quick argument with their eyes, trying to decide who would go with Peter to the food trolley. Remus seemed to be winning until Sirius gave a nod towards the unusually, quiet James. Remus knew what Sirius intended to do and gave in.

"Come on, Pete." he said with a sigh. "Let's go find the snack trolley."

Remus and Peter got up and left he compartment, leaving Sirius and James alone.

"What's up, Prongs?" Sirius asked.

"Nuttin'" James mumbled to the window.

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Nothing?" Sirius laughed. "Come on, James, who are you trying to kidd? I don't ever remember a train ride that you've been so quiet."

James shrugged.

Sirius was starting to get annoyed. "James, what happened? What happened between you and Evans this morning?"

James didn't answer.

Sirius finally lost his temper. "James, What the HELL happened between you and Evans? SOMETHING must have happened? You are NEVER like this!"

"NOTHING HAPPENED, SIRIUS!!!" James yelled right back. "Alright, SHE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!!! I DID EVERYTHING WRONG! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?! IT WAS ME!"

Sirius was completely shocked by James's outburst that he forgot to yell. "How is you being completely depressed your own fault. There has to be something more. James, I'm your best friend, and you've never kept secrets from me before, so why start now?"

"I'm sorry, Sirius." James said. "I didn't mean to lose my temper."

"It's alright." Sirius replied. "Now, come on James, what's eatin' you?"

"It's just that this is my last year to get Lily, but I know I won't be able to do it. She absolutely hates me. I mean, I have tried to get her to go out with me for four years and it hasn't worked." James then went on to tell Sirius about the conversation that he had had with Lily before they had gotten on the train.

"Whoa," Sirius said after listening to James' story. "You told her that?"

"Yeah, but it is going to be hard to keep my word, but it is worth it if she is happy."

After a moment, Sirius said, "You really do like her don't you?"

James sighed and nodded his head before turning to face the window again, remaining that way for the rest of the journey.

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Comments are welcome. Anything you have to say is fine, even if you want to say you hate this story. 


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry about not updating. I just forget to come on here and upload often. Sorry about this chapter being so short. I'll probably post a few chapters to day so that I get caught up on here. Other than that, enjoy.  
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"You won't believe who Dumbledore made Head Boy." Lily said angrily as she burst into the compartment where her two best friends, Alex Fredrick and Ann Sanders, were sitting.

"I'm guessing that it wasn't Remus Lupin." Alex said with a grin. Alex was tall, with long brown hair and light brown eyes. She had an attitude that could give Sirius Black a run for his money.

"It wasn't Remus." Lily said as she sat down, her temper slowly calming. "The Head Boy is-."

"Wait, wait." Ann said, cutting Lily off. "Only one person could have been made Head Boy and you are this mad about it."

Lily looked at her short, golden eyed, brown haired friend and said, "Ok, if you think you have it all figured out, tell me, who is Head Boy."

"James Potter." Alex and Ann answered together.

Lily looked slightly shocked that they had guessed right.  
"Yeah," she said a little flabbergasted. "Dumbledore made Potter Head Boy."

"So," Ann said. "What did he do to make you mad this time?"

"What?"

"What did he do to make you mad this time?"

Lily thought for a moment. "Actually," she replied, slightly in shock. "He didn't do anything to me."

"Then why are you mad at him?" Alex asked.

Just then Remus and Peter walked by, their arms filled with sweets. Ann quickly waved at Remus. He blushed slightly, but waved back before hurrying to catch up with Peter.

"So, Ann," Lily said, happy to get the attention taken off of herself. "What's going on between you and Remus?"

Ann was close friends with the shy Marauder, but both Alex and Lily knew that Ann had a little crush on him.

"Nothing" Ann answered quickly, but her face turned the same shade of red that Remus' had moments before.

Lily and Alex shared a look. They wanted to get more information out of Ann, but didn't want to press the issue. Lily decided to change the subject.

"All right girls, let's here about what happened over summer vacation." Their conversation lasted the rest of the train ride.

A short time later they had reached Hogwarts. Lily, Ann, and Alex got into one of the horseless carriages and to Lily's disgust, were soon joined by the Marauders. On the way up to the castle, Remus and Ann conversed quietly and Sirius and Alex were having some sort of staring contest, which Lily had no clue why they had started. James was very quiet, not speaking since he had said hello to the girls when he had entered. Lily had also noticed that he had sat as far away from her as possible. She did not dwell on this for too long, as they had reached the castle.

During the feast, Lily's friends talked happily, but Lily, for some reason, kept looking down the table to where the Marauders where sitting. James seemed better, talking and joking with his friends. At one point he looked up and saw her staring down the table at him. He gave her one of his lopsided smiles before turning to talk to Remus. After being caught looking down there, Lily didn't glance down there again, but decided to join into the conversation that her friends were having.

After they had finally finished the feast, Lily was secretly glad that the Prefects were in charge of the 1st years. She sleepily walked up to her familiar dormitory, glad to be back. She climbed quietly into her four poster bed and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Lily was awoken the next morning by Ann.

"Morning," Lily mumbled as she climbed out of bed.

"Good morning," Ann said brightly. She had always been a morning person. "Lily, can you get Alex up? I've been trying but she won't listen."

"Really," said Lily as she grabbed her wand and walked over to Alex's bed. Alex had never been a morning person, but it was extremely hard to wake her up on the first day of school.

Leaning over the bed, lily put her wand near Alex's ear and gave it a complicated little wave. The wand emitted a high pitched whistle.

"What the bloody hell did you do that for?" Alex yelled as she picked herself up off the floor.

Lily stopped laughing long enough to answer, "It was fun."

Alex muttered darkly to herself as she got ready for school.

Classes that morning were boring. All the teachers gave almost the exact same speech on how important their final year at Hogwarts was. Lily sat up and tried to pay attention, but eventually ended up doodling on a spare bit of parchment.

"James? James?! JAMES?!"

"What?" said James, looking up to see half his Charms class staring at him. Giving them a look, he turned to Sirius. "What Padfoot?"

"You were drooling in your sleep." Sirius replied with a disgusted look on his face as he showed James his soaked sleeve.

James smirked and then went back to what he was doing before he had been rudely interrupted and accused of sleeping by Padfoot. Of course, James hadn't really been sleeping; he had been awake, sort of. James had been staring a certain red haired, green eyed Head Girl that was sitting across the room. Remus followed his gaze and gave a little shake of his head. James smiled sheepishly before turning his full attention back to Lily. He couldn't help that she had an affect on him.

The rest of the day went rather quickly and before he knew it, it was almost time to patrol with Lily.

"Remus," James said urgently to his friend as they sat in the common room that evening. James was waiting for Lily to come downstairs.

"What?" asked Remus, looking up from his book.

"I can't patrol with Lily," James replied, going quite pale. "I'll mess something up, act stupid, prove that I don't deserve this position, or something. Then she'll hate me forever."

"I think it's a little too late for that James." Remus joked.

James didn't respond. Remus took a good look at his friend. He truly did look terrified at the idea of patrolling with Lily. He thought for a moment, trying to come up with some good advice for his lovesick friend. Finally he sighed and said, "Don't say anything stupid James. That means not asking her out and not talking about any pranks. Actually, it would probably be best if you didn't talk at all, unless she talks to you. This will lessen your chances of messing up in some way."

James sat there quiet for several minutes, soaking up everything that Remus had just said.

Several minutes later, Lily appeared in the common room and headed straight for where Remus and James were sitting by the fire.

"Hello," greeted Remus, giving Lily a smile.

"Hi Remus, Potter." Lily said, nodding. "We have patrol tonight Potter, in case you have forgotten. I don't want any funny business."

"Don't worry." Said Remus, giving her a small smile. "He knows better."

"What are you waiting for Potter, come on, let's go get this over with."

The little color that had been left in his face disappeared. Remus gave James a little nudge out of the chair and towards the door. Before James left, he turned and gave Remus on last terrified look. Remus gave him a smile and thumbs up.

Sirius now came over, shaking his head. He had watched the whole scene unfold from the corner. As he sat down in the chair James had been occupying moments before, he said, "Prongs has it bad for her, doesn't he?"

"Yes, yes he does. What did you tell you on the train yesterday?" Sirius hadn't had a chance yet to tell Remus of his conversation with James.

"He told me that he tried to get over Lily during break, but that was easier said than done. He also said that he wasn't going to ask Lily out this year, cause she hated him and he just wants her to be happy."

Remus sighed. "We've got to help him, Padfoot."

Ann, who was sitting a little away, doing her homework, overheard this part. "Help who?" she asked, abandoning her homework to come sit on the other side of Remus.

"James" Remus and Sirius replied simultaneously.

"What does he need help with?" Alex questioned, as she too, abandoned her homework to sit with the boys.

Sirius opened his mouth, about to tell her not to worry about it, but Remus beat him to it.

"Well, you know how James likes Lily-"

"Yes, the whole bloody school has known since about 3rd year" said Alex.

"Exactly," said Sirius. "James isn't joking around when he says he likes her. He's depressed cause this is his last year at Hogwarts and his last year to get Lily."

"He's really trying to change," Remus continued. "He's practically giving up everything but Qudditch for her."

"Wow," said Ann. "You guys are serious about this."

"Actually, I'm Sirius."

"Shut up Padfoot," Remus said, hitting Sirius upside the head. "Did you girls get a good look at James before he went on patrol?"

"Yeah, we did," said Alex. "Is he sick or something? He looked really pale."

"No, not really sick," said Remus, laughing. "Just lovesick and nervous."

"Nervous?" said Ann. "About what?"

"Patrolling with Lily."

"That's crazy. Why would he be nervous 'bout that?"

"Cause he doesn't want to make her hate him more."

"But that's impossible. Lily hates everything he does."

"Yes, we know." Remus said tiredly.

"Why doesn't he just give up on her?" Alex asked.

Finally, Sirius couldn't take it anymore.

"YOU DON'T GET IT DO YOU? THIS ISN'T SOME GAME FOR JAMES, THIS IS REAL. YOU DON'T SEE HIM PRACTICALLY IN TEARS SOME NIGHTS AFTER SOME MEAN COMMENTS FROM YOUR FRIEND. HE DOESN'T THINK ANYBODY SEES HIM LIKE THAT, BUT I DO. AND I CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO HELP MY BEST FRIEND FEEL BETTER. ONLY LILY CAN. HE REALLY CARES FOR HER, BUT YOUR STUPID FRIEND IS TOO BLIND TO SEE HIS GOOD SIDE. SHE DOESN'T SEE WHAT SHE DOES TO HIM."

Everyone was silent after Sirius's outburst. Even Remus looked shocked. Finally Ann broke the silence. "We'll help you."

"What?" said Sirius in surprise.

"We'll help you get Lily and James together."

"Yeah," said Alex, grinning as Sirius. "James sounds serious and we kind of think that Lily may be beginning to like James, but is too scared to admit it."

All Sirius could do was grin back. "This is great," He said. "But they can't find out about this. We need to discuss this somewhere private. What do you think Moony, the secret place?"

"Sounds good Padfoot." Remus said before turning to the girls. "Meet us outside the portrait hole tomorrow a half hour after Lily and James leave for patrol."

"Where will we be going?" asked Ann, slightly apprehensive, after all they were dealing with the marauders.

"You'll see." replied Sirius, grinning like a maniac.

"Don't worry." Remus whispered in her ear. "I wouldn't let him take you anywhere dangerous."

His breath tickled her skin and made shivers go down her spine.

"I guess not." Ann said smiling at him.

Remus smiled back, then looked down at his watch and yawned. "Wow, it's getting late. Come on Padfoot, let's go upstairs." With that, the boys bid the girls goodnight.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" Ann groaned.

"It will be worth it." Alex said before yawning. "We better get to bed too."

The girls too also retired for the night, not knowing what was happening to Lily and James on their first patrol together.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

James tried not to show Lily that he was nervous, but he didn't think that his attempts were working. His hands were still sweaty and he kept wiping them on his robes. He would bet 100 galleons that he was still, if not more, pale.

Lily wasn't paying that much attention to James. Sure, she noticed that he was acting a little different, but she didn't seem to care. She was walking ahead of him, trying to get through patrol with the least amount of interaction with Potter as humanly possible.

As they rounded the corner, heading to towards the common room after the 2 hour patrol, James decided to throw Remus' advice to the wind and speak up.

"Lily, can I ask you something?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On what you want to ask me."

"Well, I – I was wondering, if maybe we could try to be friends."

Lily stared at him.

Taking this as a bad sign, James ran his hands nervously through his hair and rushed on.

"I mean, we have been fighting for nearly 6 years. And since we have to work together all year, maybe it would be easier if we didn't argue. I, er, understand of you don't want to. I mean, I know you hate me. I just thought it would be easier."

Lily quickly collected herself.

"Alright, Potter. I guess we could give it a shot," She said, extending her hand to James.

James wiped his hand on his robes once more before giving Lily's hand on quick firm shake.

With that, Lily turned and entered the common room.

James stood there and counted to twenty in his head. As soon as he hit twenty, he rushed into the common room, running up the stairs to the boys' dormitory, yelling excitedly.

"Oy Prongs!" yelled Sirius as James entered the room. "Shut up before you wake up the whole bloody school."

"By the way you entered; I'm guessing that things didn't go that bad with Lily." Remus said, giving James a small smile.

"Not bad at all." James replied as he lay down on his bed with a grin on his face.

"What happened, what happened?" Peter asked excitedly, jumping up and down on his bed.

"Well, if you _must_ know, Wormtail, I followed Moony's advice up until we were almost to the tower. Then I-"

Remus interrupted him with a groan. "You didn't do anything stupid, did you?"

"No, of course not, I'm James Potter after all."

"That's what I'm afraid of. You, James Potter, always mess something up."

Hey, what's that-?"

"Never mind, just continue with your story."

"Well, as I was saying, I decided to speak up as we neared the tower. I asked her if she wanted to try and be friends."

Sirius yawned. "What did she say?"

"She said yes!"

"James," Remus said. "You do realize that this means that you have to be nice to her, and _not _stare her during class and stuff like that."

"Yes, I know Moony. Don't worry, I won't do anything stupid."

Sirius snorted.

"What? I won't."

"Right, James, sure." Sirius said as he crawled into bed.

"Moony, do you believe me?"

"No comment." Remus replied as he too climbed into his bed.

"Why? Guys….."

"Prongs," Sirius said sleepily.

"What?"

"Shut up and go to sleep."

"G'night Padfoot."

"Night Prongs."

Lily walked slowly up the steps to the girls' dormitory, thinking about what had happened that evening. The James Potter that had patrolled with her this evening was not the same one that she had known the past 6 years. There was something different about him.

Quietly, Lily opened the door to the dorm and found that her two friends were still awake. Yawning, Lily lay down on her bed.

"So," said Ann, looking up from her book. "How was the first patrol with James?"

Lily sighed. "It was- alright."

"Alright?" asked Alex. "No yelling, pranks, or hexes?"

Ann laughed.

"No," Lily answered slowly. "He was different, very quiet. He didn't talk much."

Ann nodded.

"It was weird, he's acting so different." Lily continued as she got ready for bed. "Not that that's a bad thing." She added quickly. "I like him better when I'm not arguing with him."

Alex and Ann shared a look. Lily noticed.

"What?"

'Nothing." Ann said, getting into bed.

"Alex?"

"Nope."

"Fine."

Lily turned over and went to sleep, wondering what that was all about.

As the girls entered the Great Hall the next morning, Lily noticed that they were heading straight for where the Marauders where sitting.

"Oh, no, we are not sitting with them."

'Oh yes, we are." said Alex, grabbing Lily's arm, trying to keep her from running.

"There is no reason why we can't." Ann said as they neared the boys. "Hi Remus."

They had reached the Marauders. Ann sat on one side of Remus, Peter was on the other. Alex sat down next to Sirius. The only two places left were either next to James or Peter. Lily decided to take the lesser of two evils and sit next to James.

"Morning Lily," James said, looking up from his breakfast.

"Morning, Po- er I mean, James." Lily replied as she piled food on her plate.

"Lily," said Sirius. "I'm surprised James came back last night in one piece."

Lily looked up from her food. "What?"

"Ouch." Sirius said, rubbing his shin. James was glaring at him. "Never mind, so, what class do we have first this morning?"

Remus swallowed and replied, "Someone named Vincent. She's the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. Anybody heard anything about her?"

They all shock their heads.

"I'll take that as a no." Sirius said laughing.

"Wonder if she'll stay more than a year," Alex asked.

She brought up a point. Not one of their Defense against the Dark Arts teachers had ever lasted more than a year. They sat in silence for a few moments pondering this.

Ann looked at her watch. "I suppose that we better head off to class now."

The others murmured in agreement and started to leave.

"Well," Lily whispered to Ann as they left the Great Hall. "I guess that wasn't too bad."

"See I told you there was nothing wrong with sitting with them."

"Yeah, but we are not sitting with them during class."

Ann laughed at her friend's persistence to stay away from the Marauders. "Deal."

When they entered the classroom, the boys took their usual seats near the back of the room and the girls sat in the front. There was the usual talking before class, but then……..

The door to the classroom slammed shut. Everyone became deathly quiet and took their seats. A tall lady, with dark hair and billowing black robes entered, walking down each row with a sense of authority. She was a bit scary, Lily had to admit.

"Hello, my name is Professor Vincent." She said in a quiet tone. "This is N.E.W.T.S. Defense against the Dark Arts class. You will face your worst nightmares in this classroom and test your magical abilities to their breaking point. If you feel that you are not up to this challenge, get out now." She paused, glancing around the room before continuing. "Good. Now, I have come up with a series of debates to help me assess at what skill level this class is at. The first debate is on werewolves: horrible creatures or normal humans."

All of the Marauders faces went white.

"What's she playing at?" Sirius whispered to James.

James shrugged, but was staring suspiciously at the new teacher.

"I would like those thinks that werewolves are monsters on the left side of the room and anybody who thinks they are normal on the right. Move now please."

There was the sound of scraping chairs as most of the class went to the left side of the classroom, leaving the Marauders alone on the right side.

"My, my, my," said Professor Vincent with a smile. "This is going to be a bit lopsided. Halfway through this debate I shall give you a chance to switch sides, if you wish. Now, since the anti werewolves side has the majority, they get to go first."

"Werewolves are horrible creatures. Killers." yelled a Hufflepuff, who James believed was Amos Diggory.

"No, they're not. They're as normal as anybody else. All they have is a little problem once a month." Sirius yelled back. His temper was already starting to rise.

"They're not like us." Said a Ravenclaw named Lisa Smith. "They transform into beasts of the wild once a month and try to murder people."

Remus remained silent, so James spoke up.

"Do you want to be like that? Do you think that they want to live their whole lives going through painful transformations once a month?"

"Well, if it's so painful, then we should just kill them off and end their suffering." replied yet another Ravenclaw, this one named Alex Chang.

"NO!" yelled Sirius, standing up.

"That will enough Mr. Black." said Professor Vincent, bringing a debate to a halt. "Is there anyone on either side that would like to switch?"

"I would." said a voice. Lily walked over to the Marauder's side, followed by Alex and Ann.

"Ms. Evans, what made you change your mind?" the teacher asked with a fake smile.

"They made a valid argument."

Ann nodded in agreement.

The debate continued, with the left half of the class condoning werewolves and the Marauders, Lily, Alex, and Ann trying their hardest to defend them.

Finally, Snape stepped up to the front of the room.

"I don't know," he said slowly. "I kind of had the impression that werewolves like the idea of hurting people." He sent a meaningful glance towards Remus and Sirius.

James knew what Snape had meant by that right away. Forgetting the rest of the class, forgetting Professor Vincent, forgetting Lily was watching, James stood up and had his wand centimeters from Snape's face in less than a second.

"I swear if you ever-"

"Mr. Potter! Sit down."

James very unwillingly stepped back from Snape and pocketed his wand.

"Detention! For the rest of you, I want a 15 inch essay on your views of werewolves, due on my desk by Monday. Class dismissed."

Professor Vincent turned and stalked into her office. The class quietly gathered up their belongings.

"We'll wait for you." Sirius told James before heading out into the corridor.

"I can't believe it." Lily said. "There I thought he had changed a bit and he goes and tries to attack Snape in front of the whole class."

"Lily," said Alex. "He didn't attack Snape, just threatened him a bit."

"Yeah, and I think we're missing something." Ann reasoned. "I mean, I think that Snape's comment had more of a meaning than we could understand, but the boys did. That could be why James reacted that way."

"I don't care what the reason." Lily retorted. "He had no right to do that."

"Cleaning the trophy room!" James yelled. "I don't know who's worse, her or Snape."

"What was that all about anyways?" Peter asked.

"Prejudice." Sirius growled.

James nodded in agreement. "I don't care that much about the detention though. I did what I had to do and if that old bat doesn't like it….."

"You should have just let Snape go." Remus finally said.

"But we all knew what he was talking about-"

"-And nobody else did. Nobody else was paying attention. Then you had to go attack Snape in front of Lily-"

James groaned, smacking himself in the forehead. "Oh, Lily."

"And you got a detention." Remus finished.

"Well, it could have been worse." Sirius said.

Neither James nor Remus answered.


	6. Chapter 6

**Being the wonderful, nice author that I am, I'm giving you all another chapter to read. I really enjoyed writing this chapter for some reason. Anyways, enjoy. **

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Chapter 6:

No matter what Ann said, Lily refused to even look at James all morning. She couldn't get over what he had done in Defense against the Dark Arts.

"Lily, I'm sure-," Ann whispered during Charms.

"No, I don't wanna hear it."

"Just ask-,"

"No."

"You're being stubborn, you know."

"Yep, and I don't care."

Ann ran her hand though her hair with frustration. "Fine." She said, giving up.

James was fully aware that Lily was mad at him.

"Look at her." He whispered to his friends during Charms.

"What's there to look at? She seems no different than usual." Sirius answered.

"She's mad at me."

"And this is unusual?"

"Padfoot." Remus said, hitting Sirius in the back of the head.

"Owww, Moony." he said, rubbing his head. "Was that necessary?"

Moony gave him a look. "Continue James."

"I didn't mean to make her mad. I just got her to be friends with me. Now I've gone and ruined things."

"And you expected not to screw things up?" Sirius replied cheekily.

Remus kicked him this time. "James, you didn't ruin things. Just give her time to cool off."

James sighed. "Alright, if you say so Moony."

Lunch was an interesting affair. Ann and Alex wanted to, of course, sit with the boys, but Lily didn't want to have anything to do with James. After much prodding and promises of Chocolate Frogs, she agreed to sit with them, but wouldn't sit anywhere near James. The seating arrangements ended up like so, Remus; Ann; and Lily on one side and James; Alex; Sirius; and Peter on the other. The boys, minus Peter, and Alex where having a fierce conversation about Qudditch. Peter, well, Peter was being Peter and was more worried about food than his friend's conversation. Ann was trying to keep up with the conversation, but was getting completely lost.

"The Cannons have got it in the bag this year. This is their year to make a turnaround." James said excitedly, waving his fork around.

Sirius snorted. "The Cannons? Make a turnaround? Yeah, right, that'll never happen."

"Why? It's more likely that the Cannons will do well than the Tornados."

"The Tornados are going to do fine this year. They got that new seeker, Fernaski, or whatever his name is."

"Ferngerski." Alex supplied. "And James, sorry to tell you this, but unless the Cannon get a whole new team, they aren't gonna be able to win at all."

He shook his head. "How bout this, we make a little bet. If the Cannons have a better record than the Tornados, you pay me 15 Galleons apiece, and if the Tornados are better than the Cannons, I'll give you each 15 Galleons."

Sirius smirked and agreed. Alex was about to decline, she hated betting, but Sirius shook his head slightly, telling her to agree. Sighing, she too took James's bet.

Alex stopped Sirius on the way into Transfigurations after lunch. "Why did you want me to take James' bet?"

"Because," he said, his face breaking into a grin. "What poor Jamsie doesn't know is that the Cannons have the hardest Qudditch schedule this year. It's going to be impossible for them to win."

Alex could feel herself smiling. "Sirius, sometimes you are a genius. Now, come on, we're going to be late." Together the two of them ran off to Transfigurations, just barely sliding into their seats before the bell rang.

Lily was trying to pay attention; she really was, but something kept hitting her in the back of the head. Hoping McGonagall wouldn't notice, she turned around to find a paper airplane floating behind her. Grabbing it, she quickly turned around and unfolded it.

_Lily, _

_I know you're mad at me. _

_ -James _

Shaking her head, Lily replied.

_Potter, _

_What gave you that idea? _

Folding the note back up, she sent it to the back of the room, where Potter and his friends were sitting. She had barely started taking notes again when the airplane landed in front of her.

_It could be the fact that you are ignoring me and that every time I try to say something to you, you give me the death stare. Look, I'm-_

"Ms. Evans?" 

McGonagall's voice snapped Lily back to reality.

"Ms. Evans, do you know the answer?"

Lily could feel her cheeks burning. She didn't know what to do. She hadn't heard the question. "I …er…" 

"I know the answer." yelled a voice from the back of the room. Lily didn't have to turn around to know it was Potter.

Professor McGonagall looked surprised. "Fine then, Mr. Potter, what is the answer?"

"1489"

"Correct Mr. Potter." was all Professor McGonagall said before continuing her lecture.

Lily didn't bother to finish reading the note. Crumpling it, she shoved it to the bottom of her bag. She was annoyed, on top of being mad, with James. If he hadn't sent her the note, she would have been paying attention. She chose to overlook the fact that he had given the answer for her, so she wouldn't have to explain to McGonagall why she hadn't been paying attention

The last two classes of the day went surprising quickly for Lily. Battling a snargaluff and brewing the Draught of the Living Dead took her mind off of James until after dinner.

"Lily," said Ann, glancing up from her homework to look at the clock. "Isn't it time for you and James to go on patrol?"

"I suppose you're right." Glancing around the common room, Lily saw James sitting by the fire. He looked like he was deep in thought. She almost forgot she was mad at him. He looked almost sad. Lily shook her head to get rid of this idea. James Potter sad? Never. She went over and stood beside his chair until he looked up. Lily pointed at the clock and then turned and left the common room. Sighing, James got up and quietly followed her out.

Their friends sat quietly at one table for a good ten minutes before Sirius got fidgety. "Are we going to leave or what?"

Ann looked to the pile of homework in front of her and then back to Sirius. "Do you realize how much homework we have?"

"No."

"Three essays, four spells to practice, and a book to read."

"I don't have to do any of that."

"What do you mean you don't have to do any of it?" Alex asked. "You're in the exact same classes as the rest of us."

"I know, but I got all of it done already."

Ann and Alex looked at him for one moment and burst out laughing. "You, Sirius Black, have already completed all of his homework? That's got to be your best joke yet."

"No joke."

"Sirius, you're not going to be fooling us tonight." Alex said.

"It's the truth." he yelled, standing up and angrily pushing the hair out of his eyes.

The girls stopped laughing. Before they could say anything, Sirius turned and stalked up to the boy's dormitory. There were several moments of silence.

"Remus," Ann said. "was he really telling the truth?"

Remus looked up tiredly from his essay and nodded. "He was. It's amazing in fact. Ever since first year, he's always managed to get his homework done before anyone else."

Neither one of the girls responded right away. Remus saw out of the corner of his eye the common room door open and shut again, but nobody entered nor left.

"Do you think one of us should go apologize?"

"No," Remus replied, knowing that his friend was no longer upstairs. "Leave him go. He'll be fine by tomorrow."

Sirius was wondering the halls aimlessly under the Invisibility cloak. He knew that he would eventually find his way down to the kitchens. Was it so hard to believe that he could get his homework done quickly? He guessed it was more the fact that Alex had laughed at him. That had gotten him mad more than anything else. That girl was different than any of the ones he could get. She was always in his brain, no matter what he did. Sirius wasn't used to this. Girls were supposed to think about him, he wasn't supposed to be thinking about one girl. Suddenly, yelling, coming from somewhere on his left awoke him from his thoughts. He ran down the corridor to see where the noise was coming from.

"I didn't touch him Lily! Even if I had, he would have deserved whatever I would have done to him" James yelled.

"Nobody deserves that, Potter" Lily spat right back. Sirius could feel the tension between them.

"He deserves it. Trust me, he does."

"You're just an arrogant bully, Potter. You haven't changed at all" Lily turned and ran off in the direction of the common room.

"Lily, wait!" James called, but it was too late.

Sirius watched as James stormed off in the opposite direction. Sirius stood there for a moment, trying to decide if he should go and talk to Lily or James. Finally, he came to the conclusion that neither where safe to speak to at the moment, and continued on his way towards the kitchen.

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**Reviews are wonderful things and they make me want to write more. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow, thanks for all the interest in this story. In one day, I've gotten 9 more reviews, 813 hits, 5 favs, and 11 alerts. It's mind boggling. I've posted this on other sites and haven't really received any interest in it. So thanks to everyone who is stickin' with this story so far.  
**

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Chapter 7: 

It was the Saturday after that horrible Defense against the Dark Arts class and Lily was still not speaking to James. She had done everything possible to completely ignore him, much to her friends' disgust. As much as she wanted to ignore him, she was finding it quite hard to do. Lily found herself glancing over at James during classes or at meals and seeing just how miserable he was. The look of sadness on his face was always on her mind, no matter how hard she tried to rid herself of the image. This is what Lily was found doing on Saturday night when she was supposed to be working on her Potions essay. Instead of concentrating on the benefits of a Shrinking potion, she was thinking about Potter. A small part of her realized that she was the reason that James was miserable and that she should forgive him, but the stubborn side of her wouldn't allow it. Lily looked up from her potions book that she wasn't really reading to see said boy trudging down the steps from his room and leave for his second night of detention.

Lily attempted to work on her essay for another fifteen minutes before giving it up as a lost cause, closed her book, and took out a small black hard bound book and began to write in it.

"Ann? Ann?"

Ann shook her head and turned to the boy sitting next to her. "What Remus?"

"It's your turn. What were you thinking about?"

"I've noticed," Ann replied as she looked at the chess board, trying to find a move, "that Lily has been staring at James every day this week since their fight."

"Are you sure?" Remus asked as Ann moved her chess piece 4 places.

She nodded. "Yeah, since I seriously doubt she was looking at you, Sirius, or Peter. Speaking of the other two, where are they?"

"Upstairs, I think. Sirius was making up some Quidditch plays for James. And I think Peter was helping."

Even though James was Quidditch captain, Sirius enjoyed making up plays for his friend. Peter tried to help, but usually ended up frustrating his Sirius.

Sure enough, as soon as Remus said this, a loud yell was heard coming from the boys' dormitory, followed by what sounded like a book hitting the wall.

Ann smiled. "Am I correct in guessing the violent noises coming from upstairs are from Sirius and Peter?"

"You would be correct, my lady." Remus said, laughing. "And now forgetting my two slightly violent friends upstairs for a moment, what where you saying about Lily?"

"I think that James is finally getting to her, someway or somehow he is." She prodded another chess piece forward. "You see that book she's writing in right now?"

Remus nodded.

"That's her so called diary."

"What do you mean so called diary?" He asked as his queen moved forward and took Ann's rook.

"Lily only writes in that book whenever James is bothering her. Alex stole it from her once and glanced through it. Every page is about James, what he did to annoy her, how he asked her out that day, everything and anything James does to her is written down in there."

"Lily hasn't said a proper word to James in nearly a week." said Remus slowly catching on. "So that means that she's been thinking about him even though they aren't talking."

"Exactly."

"We should talk to her."

As if on cue, Lily shut her book, stowed it away in her backpack, and came over to sit by Ann.

"Hey Lily," Ann said, trying to save her knight from Remus' rook. "Did you get any of that Potions essay done?"

"Not really." sighed Lily. "I couldn't concentrate."

"Wonder why." Remus muttered, his marauder personality taking over for a moment.

"What?"

Ann hit him on the arm. "What Remus means is that, we've-ouch." Remus kicked her under the table. "I mean, I've noticed that you've been paying a lot of attention to James over the past few days, even though you're supposedly mad at him."

"What do you mean supposedly?"

"I think what Ann means is that when you're mad at someone, especially when you, Lily, are mad at James, you don't usually spend all your spare time thinking about him."

"I have not been-," Lily began.

"You've been writing in the James book, Lily." Ann said, trying to reason with her friend.

"So what if I've-," Lily paused. "How do you know about the James book?"

"I…er…well, you see" Ann spluttered.

"That's not the point." Remus cut in; saving Ann. "The point is that you've been watching James. Don't deny it," he added as Lily began to open her mouth to protest. "You've seen how miserable he is. Just forgive him already. It's been nearly a week."

"I have not been watching James." Lily replied, standing up. "And I have not noticed how miserable he is, and I will not forgive him. Oh, Ann? Remus is about to win." With that, Lily gathered her belongings and went upstairs.

"She just completely lied to us." Ann said.

"That she did." Remus agreed before moving his chess piece. "Checkmate."

The 7th year Gyffindors all slept in late Sunday morning, except for James who had Quidditch practice. That afternoon, the Marauders went down the Quidditch Pitch to work out the plays Sirius had come up with the night before, Ann went down to the greenhouses to help the Herbology teacher with some weeding, Alex went to the library to do research, and Lily stayed in the common room, trying to catch up on the mountain of homework she had.

With the conversation she had with Remus and Ann running through her head all day, Lily was surprised to see that she got her homework down before patrol that night. As she tried to cram her Transfiguration book into her backpack that evening, a small crumpled piece of paper fell out of her backpack and onto the floor. Curious to see what it was Lily opened it and read:

_It could be the fact that you are ignoring me and that every time I try to say something to you, you give me the death stare. Look, I'm sorry. I let my instincts get the best of me. I know what I did was wrong and I'll really try not to do it again. Will you forgive me? _

It was the note from James that she never finished reading in Transfigurations. Reading his apology made Lily feel horrible. Glancing around the room, she saw some very untidy black hair sticking up from a chair by the fire.

Walking over, Lily discovered James was asleep. He looked so peaceful, his glasses almost falling off of his face; she almost hated to wake him up. Lily carefully pushed his glasses back up his nose before gently shook him awake.

James jumped up startled. "What?"

"It's time for patrol." Lily said, smiling, forgetting the argument for a moment.

"Really?" James asked, surprised, glancing down at his watch. "I guess your right."

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, James followed Lily out of the common room.

From across the room, Remus and Ann had been observing this scene. All they could do was smile.

Lily and James walked down the moon lit corridors in silence. James sensed Lily was in a fairly good mood and decided now would be a good time to try and patch things up between here.

"Lily, listen, I'm sorry." James said, stopping at the end of the Charms hallway. "I shouldn't of-,"

Lily held up her hand. "You can stop there James. I finally read the note you sent me in class the other day. You apologized once; you don't have to do it again. I should apologize to you for ignoring you all week. How about we try this whole friends thing over again, agreed?"

"Agreed." Then for the first time in nearly a week, James Potter smiled.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Yay! New chapter. This is a short one, I know. But it's something, I suppose. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 9: 

"Essays, please." Professor Vincent commanded.

There was the sound of papers rustling as the students gathered their essays and passed them to the front of the room. Professor Vincent snatched them up from the desks and quickly looked through the pile.

"Good….good…excellent…" she muttered. Suddenly she stopped flipping through the pile. "Mr. Lupin," Professor Vincent glanced around the room.

"Yes?" Remus asked as innocently as he could.

"Where is your essay?" The professor demanded.

"I chose not to do it."

"You chose not to do it?" Professor Vincent repeated in a sinister whisper.

Remus nodded.

"Class," she said, raising her voice, though it was unneeded. The whole room was looking at either her or Remus. "Pay attention please. I do NOT tolerate this type of behavior in my classroom. Anyone who chooses not to do their homework will be severely punished. I do NOT take disobedience lightly. Mr. Lupin, you shall stay after class to work out your detention. But before that, may I ask what made you choose not to do the assignment?"

Remus gave her a hard look. "I think you know why."

The professor opened her mouth to say more, but then decided against it. "Open your textbooks to chapter 2. Your assignment is to summarize the chapter. It must be at lease 5 inches long."

The students grumbled but quickly opened their books. Professor Vincent glanced at Remus once more before sitting at her desk and started to quickly write something out.

"Guess when my detention is." Remus said glumly to his friends as they walked to Transfiguration. He didn't wait for a reply. "Tomorrow night."

"What's tom-" James's face suddenly lit with a dawn of comprehension.

"That b." Sirius growled. "She bloody did that on purpose. Maybe I could just transform and go give her a piece of my mind. A few bites will teach her to think twice."

"Padfoot." Remus said warningly.

"Wait." Peter sounded very confused. "What IS tomorrow night?"

"Wormtail, I worry about you sometimes." Sirius said with a shake of his head. "It pains me to even grace such a stupid question with an answer. Prongs, would you care to handle the painful task for me."

"Peter," James said slowly as if speaking to a small child. "What do we do once a month, every month, that would mean that Remus, especially Remus, would not be able to have plans on that certain night?"

"Um," Peter was silent for a moment. "OH! You mean it's full moon tomorrow?!" He said loudly.

"Shh!" Remus said.

"Brilliant deduction." James said, patting Peter on the head.

"Yea," Sirius smacked Peter upside the head. "Now next time, don't shout it so everyone in the bloody school can hear you."

Peter nodded and rubbed his head. The boys slid into their seats just as the bell rang for class. Professor McGonagall began her lecture, and for once, they tried to pay attention. That didn't last long, though.

"Padfoot." James whispered suddenly in the middle of class.

"What?" Sirius was glad to have a distraction from listening to McGonagall lecture about the many types of human transfiguration.

"We have a slight problem."

"And what would that be?"

"What am I going to tell Lily when I have to miss patrol tomorrow night?"

Sirius groaned. "Wrong person to speak to, Prongs. Ask Moony."

"Thanks sooo much for the help, Padfoot. I can really see why you're my best friend."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Moony," he said. "A little help, please."

Remus sighed and handed his half completed notes to Peter. "What's the problem?" 

"Lily."

"James," Remus said quietly. "I thought we weren't having any problems with Lily at the moment, remember?"

"No, not right now." James said in frustration. "But in the near future."

Remus looked confused. "Prongs," he teased. "Are you a Seer now?"

"No!"

"Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall looked up at the boys. "Is there a problem?" 

"No, no problem. Continue with your lovely lecture."

The professor looked at them for a moment longer before continuing.

"Moony, is there any way for me to be in two places at once?" James asked.

"What are you talking about James?" replied Remus.

"Enough of this." Sirius said. "I know what you're talking about and I'm confused. Remus, old buddy, James has just now realized that patrol with his love interferes with tomorrow night's moonlit adventure."

"Oh." Remus's face fell. "James, go on patrol tomorrow. Don't worry about me."

James sat there for a moment. "No." he said. "I can't miss it. None of us has ever missed a full moon with you since we could come and help you. I'm not going to be the first one to miss now."

"What about Lily?"

James sighed. "Maybe she won't get too mad." he said hopefully.

"What?" Lily asked, not sure if she had heard him right. They were sitting in the common room long after the younger students had gone to bed.

"I have to miss patrol tomorrow." James repeated. This seemed to be going better than he had planned.

"Why?"

"Er…..I can't exactly say." James mumbled to the floor.

"What?" Lily raised her voice just enough to make James cringe. "I see. You're trying to get out of your Head Boy duties already. We've barely been back at school a month. I don't have a clue why Dumbledore even considered you for Head Boy."

"Lily, I.."

"James, no." she said. "I don't really feel like arguing with you tonight. It's fine, whatever. Do whatever you want. I don't care. Skip patrol for the rest of the year, it doesn't matter to me." Lily stormed up the steps to her dormitory.

James was left standing here in the middle of the common room, mouth wide open and speechless. _Okay, _he thought. _Maybe that didn't go exactly like planned._ He sighed and trudged up the steps to his dorm. He'd figure out exactly what Lily meant tomorrow. Right now, he needed to get some sleep to prepare for tomorrow night.

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**I'm sorry. I know, I just got them to where they were friends again and now she's mad at him again. Don't worry, they're be fine again soon enough.  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: New chapter. This one is really short. Sorry.  
**

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Chapter 9: 

Severus Snape walked briskly across the wet lawn of the school. He had wasted too much time arguing with that stupid Prefect. Lucius was not going to be pleased if he was even more than a second late. Patches of moonlight could be seen on the ground in front of him as Snape marched purposefully through the Forbidden Forest. He glanced up and frowned. Full moon. He shook his head slightly to clear away the memories of last school year.

"Severus," Lucius Malfoy said coolly. Snape had reached a small clearing completely surrounded by dense forest. "So nice of you to join, finally. We were beginning to wonder if you had deserted us."

Snape glanced around. All the others standing there had hoods covering their faces, but he could see the figures of Bellatrix and Regulus Black, along with Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange. "I am sorry Lucius." Snape said with the slightest apologetic tone in his voice. "A Hufflepuff Prefect stopped me on my way here. I had to rid of him before continuing."

"You were not followed?" Lucius question. He pulled out his wand.

"I am certain I wasn't." Snape pulled his hood on and stepped back to join the ranks of the other Death Eaters.

"Very well." Lucius slipped his wand back into the pocket of his dark black robes. "The Dark Lord is displeased." He glanced around the group waiting for his words to sink in. "There are not enough followers yet. He is unhappy at the lack of commitment to his cause you are showing. The Dark Lord wishes that more students from the school join his ranks. He wants names of powerful ones he could 'persuade'."

Snape saw Regulus step forward. "Nott and Crouch."

Snape frowned. The names of low life Slytherins would not be enough for the Dark Lord. He could hear in the distance a lone wolf cry. Sneering, he stepped forward. "Sirius Black, James Potter, and Remus Lupin."

"James?" Peter gave James an experimental poke in the arm. "You awake?"

"Just 5 more minutes, Mum." James mumbled.

Wormtail snickered. "Mum?!"

"Give it a rest Wormtail." Sirius growled. He reached over and shook James. "Come on, James, up with you. Sleeping at the breakfast table with your head in your food isn't doing much for your public image."

"Don't care. Tired. Remus gets to sleep. Not fair."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Since when is life fair? I thought you figured that out the first time Evans dumped you. And speaking of Evans, she's heading this way."

James sat up so fast it was like he was hit by a bolt of lightening. Sirius started to laugh. Lily sat down in the seat next to James. He noted that she didn't appear mad, but looks could be deceiving.

"What's up?" James asked trying to sound cheerful.

"Thank you." Lily mumbled, looking down at her shoes.

"For what?" James tried to look as innocent as possible.

Lily looked up at him. "You know why."

James stood up. "I do?"

Lily smiled. "Alright then," She said to his retreating back. "Play dumb, but know, next time, that little trick won't get you off the hook."

James turned around and threw his hands up in the air. "What trick?" he called back.

Lily just shook her head.

"Yes, what trick? Care to inform me and Wormtail, Prongsie?" Sirius asked.

"I – er- it's nothing." James stammered.

Padfoot smirked. "Nothing? Right."

"Ouch!" Remus yelped. "Padfoot, off the bed."

Sirius reluctantly stopped jumping on Remus's hospital bed and took a seat next to it. James set a pile of homework on the table while Peter pulled sweets out of his pockets to give to his werewolf friend.

"How are you feeling, Moony?" James asked.

"Forgetting the sudden pain in my neck I got when Padfoot walked in, I'm no worse than normal. Splitting headache, cuts, bruises, the usual array of injuries. You guys alright?"

James nodded. "No worse than usual." he reported.

" 'Cept for that lovely scratch on my leg. That was nasty." Sirius said.

Remus looked down guiltily. "Sorry." he muttered. "I didn't mean to."

Sirius waved it off. "No big deal. James healed it with no problem." Remus still looked depressed. "Hey, your fair maiden asked about you today."

Remus sat up a little. "Really?" he asked. "Wait," Remus scowled. "She's not my 'fair maiden', Padfoot."

He shrugged. "Minor detail. Anyway, she was worried and wanted to know where you were at."

"What excuse did you give this time?"

"Hmm, James, what did we tell her again? Dog died?"

James shook his head. "No, this time it was that his aunt was ill."

"Ah, yes. Your dear Aunt Beatrice was ill with the dragon pox. You had to rush home to visit her."

"And Ann believed you?" Remus inquired.

"She seemed a bit skeptical." James replied. "But in the end she bought it."

"Good." Remus relaxed against his pillow.

The new matron, Madame Pomfrey, came bustling in at that moment. "Out! Out! All three of you, out! This patient needs his rest."

The boys jumped up, startled by the woman. Remus grabbed James's arm before he could leave. "Did the lilacs work?"

James grinned. "Like a charm Thanks." Then he took off running out the wing before Madame Pomfrey could get one swing of the broom at him.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I'm alive. Sorry I haven't updated in months. Major writer's block has been plaguing me on most stories I've been writing. Anyways, I have a short chapter for you. Hopefully this helps me get over my writing problems and I'll have more chapters soon. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 10:

"Did you see the signs in the common room this morning?" Sirius asked Alex as the two of them walked to the common room one chilly October evening near Halloween.

"What? For the Hogsmeade trip next weekend? Of course I did." Alex replied. "Did you find someone to go with already?"

"Not yet." Sirius said.

"Not yet? Come on, if I remember correctly, the last time there was an announcement for Hogsmeade trip, you had 2 dates lined up before lunch." Alex joked. "Isn't there anyone you want to go with?"

Sirius paused for a moment. There was _one_ person he did want to go with. "I don't know." he finally answered. "What about you, got anyone in mind?" He glanced over and caught her eye. To his surprise, though, her face flushed and Alex looked away.

"Dunno." she mumbled.

"Oh, alright." Sirius sighed. "So, do you think that James will ask Lily to go with him?"

"Who knows?" Alex said with a shrug. "Those two have been something else lately haven't they? It's hard to believe that this time last year they were constantly arguing."

Sirius had to agree with that. Lily and James had surprised everyone. They hadn't had one major argument in over a month. James was as happy as he had ever seen him. Sirius would even go as far to say that it looked like Lily was actually enjoying the time she was spending with his best friend.

The duo soon reached the common room and to their surprise, found it mostly deserted.

"Look." Alex said, waving a piece of parchment at Sirius. "Lily left a note saying that all of them went to the library."

Sirius glanced at the clock. "So they're going to back soon."

"Right," Alex agreed, sitting down on the sofa. Sirius sat down with a flop beside her.

"So," Sirius started after a few minutes of silence. "I was wondering…"

Alex glanced up at him. "About?"

"Hogsmeade, of course." He replied with a slight grin on his face. "Since I don't have anyone to go with and you don't have anyone to go with, it seems to make sense that we should go together."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? Us go together? Alright."

"Siriusly?"

Alex laughed and smacked him in the arm. "Siriusly."

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James looked up from his Potions essay yet again. The library was empty, except for the stray student here and there. Lily sat next to him, looking up a potion to help him finish his paper. Remus and Anna had left earlier, having already finished their work.

"Here James," Lily said pointing to a complicated diagram in his book. "This will help –"

"Will you go to Hogsmeade with me?" James blurted, cutting off Lily.

"Pardon?"

"I was wondering," James spoke to his parchment. "If maybe you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me?"

Lily was quiet for a long moment. James looked up just in time to see a small smile flicker across her face. "As friends?" she finally said.

"Of course." He said, smiling.

For James, the week leading up to the Hogsmeade visit was the longest in his life. The days dragged on and nothing seemed to help, not even Quidditch. The thought of Lily actually willing going on a date (although as Remus pointed out, the term date should be used loosely) still amazed him. Never, except for in his wildest dreams, did he expect to get a chance like this. By Friday night, he was so excited that Remus and Sirius looked ready to murder him.

"Prongs, I swear, I've listened to you blab about Evans for 4 years now, but this is ridiculous." Sirius whined as they were getting ready for bed. "Honestly, can't you just give us a moment of silence?"

James scowled as Remus laughed. "Relax Padfoot, we'll be done with all of this by tomorrow.

"But won't going on a date with Lily just make him talk more?" Peter piped up.

Sirius moaned. "Thank you, Wormtail, for bringing up that lovely point. Now I have so much more to look forward to."

"I'm not _that_ bad, am I?" James asked, feigning to be hurt.

Remus laughed. "Honestly, yes you are. You know, James, if you shut up and go to bed, tomorrow morning will come faster."

James rolled his eyes. "I know that. And I know that tomorrow I get to spend the whole day with Lily. And –"

"Shut up!" A chorus of voices yelled at him as the lights went out, leaving James to think about how great Hogsmeade was going to be, alone in the dark.

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**You have Pop Rocks and JB to thank for helping me get this chapter written. Feel free to tell me how bad it is.  
**


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